Heel binding for a ski



Jan. 2, 1968 H. HVAM HEEL BINDING FOR A SKI 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April18, 1966 FIG. 3

HJALMAR HVAM INVENTOR BUG/(HORN, BL 0195, KLAROU/ST 8 SPAR/(MANATTORNEYS Jan. 2, 1968 Filed April 18, 1966 H. HVAM HEEL BINDING FOR ASKI 3 Sheets-Sheet S:

pooooooooaoooooo 5! 47 ooooooooogooooo HJALMAR HVAM INVENTOR BYBUC/(HOR/V, BL ORE, KLAROU/ST 8 SPAR/(MAN AZTOR/VEYS Jan. 2, 1968 H.HVAM 3,361,435

HEEL BINDING FOR A SKI Filed April 1 8, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet I42 H2 I82 v174 I72 :54

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HJALMAF? HVAM lNVEA/TOI? BUG/(HORN, BL 0195, KLAROU/ST 8 SPAR/(MANATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,361,435 HEEL BINDING FOR A SKI HjalmarHvam, Rte. 1, Box 404, Beaverton, Greg. 97005 Filed Apr. 18, 1966, Ser.No. 543,089 11 Claims. (Cl. 280-1135) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE AU-shaped spring yoke carries a heel notch engaging strand and is pivotalon the upper end of a lever. The lever is pivotally mounted on acarriage adjustable along a base, and a toggle joint linkage on the baseis connected to the lower end of the lever for moving the lever betweenan operative position and a releasing position. The structure mountingthe lever on the carriage may be adjusted to adjust the height of theyoke. The base is secured to the ski and has raised side edges alongwhich the carriage slides. The strand connecting the arms of the yokemay be a spring (FIG. 3), a cable (FIG. 8) or a rigid member (FIG. 9).

This invention relates to heel bindings for skis, and more particularlyto step-in heel bindings for skis.

An object of the invention is to provide heel bindings for skis.

Another object of the invention is to heel bindings for skis.

A further object of the invention is to provide a heel binding securelyholding the heel of a ski boot throughout a long range of movement ofthe heel during normal skiing conditions and releasing the heel upon theoccurrence of a condition in which a dangerous force would otherwise beplaced on the leg of the skier.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heel binding which iscompact and rugged and which is incrementally adjustable and also isadjustable over a wide range to fit a wide range of boot sizes and toprovide the desired holding force.

The invention provides heel bindings for skis each preferably includinga yoke carrying a clamping member for engaging the heel of a ski bootand yielding as the heel is lifted from the ski and moving the arm to areleasing position when the maximum safe force is approached. The armpreferably is mounted on a lever carried by a slide adjustable along abase fixed to the ski, and the lever is pivotal by an overcenter latchbetween an operative position holding the arm in a forward position anda releasing position holding the arm in a retracted position.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description of heel bindings for skis formingspecificembodiments thereof, when read in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, side elevation view of a ski and a heel bindingtherefor forming one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevation view of the ski andski binding of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, top plan view of the ski and skibinding of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, vertical sectional view taken substantially alongline 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, vertical sectional view taken substantially alongline 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyalong line 66 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevation view of a ski and aheel binding forming an alternate embodiment of the invention;

provide step-in FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary top plan view of theheel binding of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevation view of a ski and a heel bindingforming an alternate embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 10 is a top plan view taken substantially along line 10l0 of FIG.9.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein a ski 10(FIG. 1) having afiixed thereto a heel binding 12 forming one embodimentof the invention and a toe binding 14, the bindings 12 and 14 serving tohold a boot 16 of the skier securely on the ski during all safeconditions and releasing the boot from the ski when force on the bootapproaches the maximum safe condition. The toe binding 14 preferably isof the type disclosed and claimed in my US. reissue patent Re. 25,425,which has an arm 18 pivotal about a vertical axis 24 and having ridges22 rigid with the arm and normally positioned on opposite sides of thecenterline of the ski. The arm also carries rigidly thereon a verticallyadjustable lip member 24 which overhangs the toe end of a sole 2e of theski boot, and the arm normally is held by a downward detent mechanism 28in a holding position extending directly rearwardly along the ski. Thedetent mechanism preferably is of the type disclosed and claimed in myabovementioned patent which earns the arm and the lip downwardly as thearm is moved from its holding position thereby increasing the holdingforce of the binding.

The heel binding 12 holds the boot 16 against rearward movement awayfrom the toe binding 14 during safe conditions, and releases the bootfrom the ski when the skier in thrown forwardly relative to the ski tolift the heel 30 of the boot with a force approaching the maximum safemagnitude while, when there is a lesser, safe force, permitting the heelto be raised from the ski, without release from the ski, to a heighteven greater than the heel is raised during any normal skiing maneuver.The heel binding includes a base plate 32 fixed to the ski by screws 33and 34 extending through holes 35 and 36 in a central, upwardly bowedportion 37 and raised outer side edge portions 38. A slide plate 39 hasgenerally L-shaped side flanges 40 to form with a downwardly bowedcentral portion 42 of the side plate a generally T- shaped slot 44receiving the base plate. The slide plate is slidable along the baseplate and is retained thereon by the flanges 40, which project under theside edge portions of the base plate. Depressed forward portions 45(FIG. 6) of the side edge portions 38 limit forward travel of the slideplate 39, and the screws 34 limit rearward travel of the slide plate.The slide plate has at the rear portion thereof a pair of bores 46(FIGS. 3 and 5) through which a pair of lock pins or detents 47 slidablyextend. The pins 47 are preferably headed roll pins and are fixedrigidly to a leaf spring strap 48 having an upturned handle portion 49at its rear end and fixed by a rivet 50 at its forward end to the slideplate 39. The pins 47 are adapted to enter any selected pair of aplurality of equidistantly spaced, pairs of bores 51 in the base plate.The pairs of bores 51 are closely spaced and provide for selectiveadjustment of the slide plate from an extreme forward position for asize 4 ski boot to an extreme rear position for a size 14 ski boot. Theslide plate can be adjusted from a more rearward position to a moreforward position by lifting the handle portion 49 to lift the pins 47out of the bores 51, pushing the slide plate forwardly to the desiredposition and releasing the handle portion 49, the spring 48 then movingthe pins 47 into the adjacent pair of bores 51. For rearward adjustmentof the slide plate relative to the base plate, the handle portion 49 islifted and the slide plate pulled rearwardly.

To secure the ski boot 16 (FIG. 1) to the ski by the bindings 12 and 14,the skier places the boot on the ski with the toe of the sole 26 againstthe ridges 22 and under the lip member 24 and the heel 30, depending onthe size of the boot, either on the forward end portion of the baseplate 32 or the portion of the ski just ahead of the base plate. Theskier then pushes an S-curved handle portion of a handle lever 62 havinga finger hole 63 (FIG. 3) from its releasing position shown in phantomlines in FIG. 2 to its latching position shown in full lines in FIG. 2,the lever 62 being pivotally mounted by a rivet 64 passing through holesin arms 65 of a U-shaped bracket 66 and through a tubular spacer 68. Thelever 62 is connected to links 69 by a rivet 70 passing through flanges72 of the lever, and pulls relay levers 74 counterclockwise, as viewedin FIG. 2. The relay levers are connected by a rivet 76 to the links 69,the rivet 76 extending through arcuate slots 78 in the arms 65 of thebracket 66, which slots are centered on a rivet 86 pivotally mountingthe relay levers on the arms 65. This movement of the relay levers movesa clevis-like or spring steel, spanner link or yoke 82, which ispivotally secured thereto by a rivet 84 and a tubular spacer 85,forwardly along the ski. The spanner link 82 presses a flexible,clamping or gripping, tension member 86, which, in the embodiment shown,is a strong, pretensioned, tension spring, downwardly and forwardly intoan upwardly and rearwardly facing notch 88 (FIG. 1) formed by the heel38 and stitf, upper heel portion or cup 90 of the ski boot. The member86 (FIGS. 2 and 3) wraps partly around the boot and resiliently pressesthe heel end of the ski boot forwardly and downwardly with a strongforce. The member 86 has end eyes 92 at the lower, rearward sidethereof, the eyes being pivotally secured to the arms of the yoke 82 byroll pins 94 and extending into slots 95 in eye portions 96 of the armsof the yoke. The member 86 preferably is formed of type l88 stainlesssteel wire of a diameter of about .135 inch wound with a maximum preloadinto a close helix of an outside diameter of about one-half an inch withthe normal distance between the centers of the eyes being about one andfifteemsixteenth inches, the distance between the centers of the eyeportions 96 being about two inches. Washers 97 space the relay levers'74 from the arms 65' of the bracket 66, and washers 98 space the links99 from the flanges '72 of the lever 62. The bracket 66 has projections100 (FIG. 5) on the lower edge thereof which fit into holes 161 in theslide plate 38 and are staked thereto to rigidly mount the bracket onthe slide plate. The handle portion 60 (FIG. 3) has the finger hole 63therein for lifting the handle lever 62 to its releasing position. Whenthe handle lever is in its latching position, the rivet 70 (FIG. 2)being slightly below a line between the rivets 64 and 76, the handlelever is slightly overcenter, further movement being limited by therivet 76 engaging the rear ends of the arcuate slots 78. Stop portions163 formed on the relay levers 74 are engaged by the arms of the yoke tolimit counterclockwise movement of the yoke, as viewed in FIG. 2.

The yoke 82 is centered relative to the ski boot 16, and, when thehandle lever 62 is swung'to its latching position, the central portionof the flexible tension member 86 is pressed downwardly and forwardly inthe notch 88 and is deflected somewhat. When the skier lifts the heel 30(FIG. 1) of the ski boot in normal skiing maneuvers, the tension memberand the forward end of the yoke are raised but are still substantiallybelow the rivet 84. However, when the skier falls forwardly and the rearend of the ski cannot raise, the heel 30 moves the yoke 82, through themember 86, to a substantially horizontal position, illustrated in dashlines in FIG. 2, and the upwardly and forwardly swinging heel of theboot flexes the arms of the yoke and stretches the member 86sufficiently to pull free from the member 86. Also, the member 86, beinga tension spring and being free of any positive or solid stops, canexpand indefinitely so that no sudden, solid shocks are imparted to theskier. The slide plate 39 is adjustable to any position along the baseplate, which may be desired for ski boots of different sizes and toprovide the desired tension on the member 86. The skier can attach theski boot to the ski 10 merely by stepping onto the ski and swinging thehandle lever 62 to its latching position.

Embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 A heel binding 112 fixed to a ski 116 andforming an alternate embodiment of the invention includes a slide plate114 adjustable along a base plate 116 fixed to the ski. A leaf springdetent or pawl member 118 has a T- shaped forward end portion 120trapped in a notch 122 in a U-shaped bracket 124 staked to the slideplate so as to be rigidly fixed to the slide plate. The detent 118includes a handle portion 126 and rigid teeth or pawls 128 projectingslidably through holes 130 in the slide plate and adapted to enter anyselected pair of holes 132 in the base plate 116. The slide plate hashook-like side edge portions 136 extending under and slidable alongraised, side edge flanges or guides 138 of the base'plate 116.

A clevis-like U-shaped spanner link or yoke 140 hav ing outwardly flaredspring arms 142 having flexibility imparting loops 143 is adapted topress the central portion of a flexible, tensioned, clamping or grippingmember 1 44 downwardly and forwardly into the notch at the;

juncture of the heel and upper heel portion of the ski boot and tends towrap the gripping member partially around the heel. The gripping memberincludes a flexible strand 146 having at its ends eyes 148 secured toeye portions 156 of the yoke by roll pins 152. The strand 146 may be aspring steel rod or a stranded cable. A flexible sleeve 154, preferablyof tough, reinforced rubber or plastic hose, is positioned on the strand146. The yoke is pivotal on a rod 160 carried by relay levers 162mounted pivotally on an arbor 164. Stops 165 on the levers 162 limitcounterclockwise movement, as viewed in FIG. 7, of the yoke. The lowerends of the levers 162 are pivotally connected to links 166 by a rod 168extending loosely through arcuate slots 170 in the bracket 124. A handlelever 172 pivotally secured by aligned rivets 174 to the bracket 124 andpivotally secured by rivets 176 to the links 166 forms a toggle jointlinkage with the links 166, the rod 168 engaging the righthand ends ofthe arcuate slots 170 just as the rivets 176 go overcenter, the handlelever 172 engaging the slideplate just after the rivets 176 goovercenter when the linkage is moved to its latching position.

In order to adapt the heel binding 112 to a wide range of heelthicknesses and also to provide a wide range of available holding forcesfor any selected position of the slide plate 116 relative to the baseplate 118, the arbor 164 is infinitely adjustable forwardly andrearwardly relative to the slide plate 116. The end portions of thearbor 164 are supported slidably in laterally aligned, slightly arcuateslots 189 in the arms of the bracket 124 and cen tered on the rod 168when the latter abuts the righthand ends of the slots 170. An adjustmentscrew 182 screwed through a tapped bore 184 in the arbor 164 has a re=duced end portion 186 rotatable and pivotal in a slot 188 in the bracket124. A riveted end 190 and a washer 192 prevent movement of the screwtothe right relative to the bracket 124. Either screwdriver slot 196 ora handle 198 staked to the screw may be actuated to turn the ber 144downwardly and forwardly. To adapt the binding to a thicker heel or tolessen the holding force of the binding 112, the screw 182 ismanipulated to move the arbor rearwardly relative to the slide plate.The range of adjustment provided by the screw is suflicient toaccommodate all thicknesses of heels and also, to provide any desiredholding force, is much greater than that necessary to span the distancebetween adjacent pairs of the holes 132.

Embodiment of FIGS. 9 and A heel binding 212 forming an alternateembodiment of the invention and fixed to a ski 210 includes a base plate216 and a slide plate 218. The binding 212 is identical with the binding112 except for the differences brought out hereinafter, and includes anelongated, rigid, curved clamping or holding member 220. The member 229has an arcuate, central, semi-cylindrical or semi-tubular portion 222,and also has flattened end portions 224 secured by roll pins 226 inslotted eye portions 228 of spring arm 230 of a clevis or yoke 232.Spring loop portions 234 of the arms 230 permit movement of the member220 longitudinally of the ski against the action of the spring loopportions.

A rivet 235 secures a base portion 238 pivotally to the upper, forwardend portions of relay levers 240. Stops 242 formed on the relay leverslimit counterclockwise movement of the member 232, as viewed in FIG. 9,relative to the relay levers 24l3. The relay levers 240 are pivotallymounted on an arbor 244 adjustable by an adjustment screw 246 alongarcuate slots 248 centered on rivet 250 when the rivet 250 is at therighthand ends of clearance slots 252 in U-shaped bracket 254 fixed tothe slide plate 218. The adjustment screw is pivotally and rotatablysecured to the front wall of the bracket and is threaded through atapped bore 256 extending through the arbor 248. The relay levers areadapted to be latched in operative or holding positions by an overcenterlatching mechanism 258, which, of course, may release the levers also.

The binding 212 may be adjusted to any size of ski boot and also to anyheel thickness over a wide range. The holding force of the binding 212may be adjusted by adjusting the slide plate 213 on the base and byadjusting the arbor 2 :8 forwardly or rearwardly relative to the slideplate 218. The stops 242 permit the yoke 232 to swing clockwise from itsoperative position shown in full lines in FIG. 9 to a position shown inbroken lines far to the rear of its boot-releasing position.

In the operation of the ski binding 212, assuming the slide plate 218 tobe adjusted to its desired location and the adjustment screw 246 to havelocated the arbor 248 in a position in which the yoke 232 is a smalldistance out of contact with the stops 242 when the boot is clamped andin which the desired holding force is provided, the arcuate clampingmember 222 is urged by the spring loop portions 234 forwardly anddownwardly relative to the ski and fits into the notch in the ski bootformed by the upper rear portion of the heel and the upper heel portionof the ski boot. The heel of the ski boot may be raised against thespring action of the looped portions 234 without release during allnormal maneuvers. However, when a dangerous force is approached, themember 220 is raised above the level of the rivet 236 and the ski bootis pulled free therefrom.

The above-described bindings are very effective to hold the ski bootsduring safe conditions while permitting the heels to be lifted withoutrelease through a wide range greater than that ever used in normalskiing and releasing the boots whenever sustained, abnormally highlifting forces are applied to the boots. The holding forces of thebindings are adjustable over a Wide range and the bindings areadjustable to all sizes of ski boots and all heel thicknesses.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the application of the principles of the invention.Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and fallwithin the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

5 1. In a ski binding,

a base plate having a plurality of holes spaced therealong and alsohaving guide means extending therealong,

a slide slidable on the guide means and having a guide boretherethrough,

a spring member secured to the slide,

lock means carried by the slide in a position extending through theguide bore and urged by the spring member toward a position entering oneof the holes in the base plate,

and binding means carried by the slide.

2. The ski binding of claim 1 wherein the base plate includes a centralportion adapted to be secured to the upper face of a ski and alsoincludes raised side edge portrons,

and the slide plate includes a central section and a pair of hook-likefiange portions extending around the raised side edge portions of thebase plate and slidable therealong.

3. The ski binding of claim 2 wherein tron of the base plate is bowed.

4. In a rear ski binding, a base plate securable to a ski, slide meansslidable along the base plate, means for locking the slide means to thebase plate in a selected position relative to the base plate,

an elongated clamping member adapted to laterally engage an upwardly andrearwardly facing notch in a ski boot,

a yoke member having arms secured to the ends of the clamping member,

relay lever means pivotally mounted on the slide means and mounting theyoke means pivotally thereon in a range of positions extending forwardlyand downwardly relative thereto, and latch means mounted on the slidemeans for moving the relay lever means between a first position holdingthe yoke means in a forward operative position and a second positionholding the yoke means in a rearward retracted position,

the latch means comprising a handle lever pivotally mounted on the slidemeans and rigid link means connecting the handle lever to the relaylever means and forming a toggle joint linkage with the handle lever.

5. In a ski binding,

frame means adapted to be fixed to a ski,

arm means for engaging the notched portion of the heel portion of a skiboot, and mounting means mounting the arm means pivotally on the framemeans at a point spaced from the outer end portion of the arm means andabout a horizontal axis positioned to the rear and above the notchedportion of the heel portion of the ski boot, the mounting meansincluding an arbor, adjustment screw mean-s mounting the arbor on theframe means and adapted to adjust the arbor forwardly and rearwardlyrelative to the frame means,

relay lever means having upper end portions pivotally connected to therear end portion of the arm means and having central portions pivotallymounted on the arbor,

linkage means connected to the frame means and the relay lever means forpivoting the relay lever means between a holding position in which theupper end portions of the relay lever means is forwardly positioned anda releasing position in which the relay lever means is rearwardlypositioned,

and stop means limiting pivotal movement of the arm the central pormeansrelative to the relay lever means in a direction in which the arm meansis swung rearwardly,

the stop means limiting such pivotal movement'of the arm means to aholding position in which the arm means extends downwardly and forwardlyfrom the relay lever means,

the arm means being pivotal on the relay lever means from said holdingposition to a releasing position extending forwardly and slightlyupwardly from the relay lever means.

6. In a ski binding,

a base,

a bracket member on the base,

a lever pivotally mounted at the central portion thereof on the bracketmember in an upwardly extending position,

a heel-engaging arm member pivotally mounted on the upper end of thelever and adapted while in a holding position to extend downwardly andforwardly into the notch between the heel and the upper of a ski bootand being swingable upwardly from the holding position to an overcenterreleasing position,

manually operable locking means connected pivotally to the lower end ofthe lever and connecting the lower end of the lever to the bracket formoving the lever relative to the bracket between a retracted positionand an operative position, I

and manually adjustable means interconnecting the bracket member and thelever for adjusting the angle of the lever relative to the bracket whenthe locking means is in its operative position to adjust the height ofthe upper end of the lever relative to the ski.

7. The ski binding of claim 6 wherein the adjustable means adjusts thepositions of the central portion of the lever and the lower end of thelever relative to each other longitudinally of the ski when the lockingmeans is in its operative position.

8. The ski binding of claim 7 wherein the adjustable 7 means comprises apin mounting the central portion of the lever pivotally, means mountingthe pin on the bracket for adjustment and manually operable means foradjusting the pin relative to the bracket longitudinally of the ski.

9. In a ski binding,

a bracket mountable on a ski,

a lever extending upwardly and having a central portion pivotallymounted on the bracket between a retracted position and an operativeposition in which the upper end of the lever is more forward relative tothe ski in the operative position than in the retraeted position,

pin means mounting the central portion of the lever pivotally on thebracket,

manually operable locking means connected to the lower end of the leverfor locking the lower end of the lever rigidly against forward movementof the lower end of the lever when the lever is in its operativeposition,

arm means pivotally mounted at one end thereof on the upper end of thelever and adapted at the outer end thereof to engage a notch in the heelportion of a ski boot,

the arm means being swingable overcenter between a holding positionextending downwardly and forwardly from the lever and a releasingposition in which its outer end is above the upper end of the lever, oneof the arm means and the lever including a leaf spring to permitrearward movement of the free end of the arm means as the arm means ismoved toward its releasing position. 10. The ski binding of claim 9wherein lever means is adjustable in its operative position pivotallyrelative to the bracket to adjust the height of the upper end of thelever.

11. In a ski binding,

a base member having notches spaced therealong and adapted to be fixedto a ski,

a carrier frame slidable along the base member,

binding means carried by the carrier frame for engaging a ski boot,

and a resilient plate member mounted at its forward end on the frame andhaving dog portions at its rear end projecting downwardly and adapted toenter the notches,

the plate member being of resilient material and urging the dog portionsdownwardly into the notches.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,610,861 9/1952 Campbell280-4135 2,851,278 9/ 1958 Berlenbach 28011.35 2,879,071 3/1959 King28011.35 3,125,349 3/1964 Schweizer 28011.35

FOREIGN PATENTS 211,716 10/1960 Germany.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

I. H. BRANNEN, I. A. PEKAR, Examiners.

